Barcelona 2-0 Espanyol: 4 records Lionel Messi set in the match

Messi is a record breaker
Messi is a record breaker

Stating that Lionel Messi is a phenomenal player is just stating the obvious as no adjective can sufficiently describe the greatness the icon exudes on the field of play.

The 31-year-old rewrites football's history books at will, seemingly setting a new record every other week in his journey to being identified as the greatest player ever to lace up boots and grace a football field.

He has been the driving force behind Barcelona's quest for a treble this season, leading the charge in terms of goals and assists in a bid to ascertain his pride as the best player in the world.

In the Catalan derby against Espanyol, Lionel Messi was once more at his destructive best, playing a crucial role in the 2-0 victory to help the Blaugrana maintain the lead atop the league standings.

As expected, the Argentine record goalscorer wrote another chapter in what is already one of the greatest careers in history. In this piece, we shall be having a rundown of four records that Lionel Messi set in the game against Espanyol.


#4 Second highest appearance maker in Barcelona's history

Messi is now Barcelona's second highest appearance maker
Messi is now Barcelona's second highest appearance maker

At 17 years, three months and 22 days, the Argentine was the then youngest player to ever represent Barcelona in an official match.

His greatness has always been evident right from his record-breaking days in the Barca youth setup, but even a soothsayer with a crystal ball could not have predicted just how good the skinny, shy kid from Rosario would turn out to be.

15 years later and Lionel Messi has become unarguably the greatest player of all time at the Camp Nou, holding numerous records to back this claim.

Having spent the entirety of his professional career at Barcelona, it comes as no surprise that he ranks high up there on the list of appearance makers for the club.

The fixture against Espanyol meant he had worn the Maroon and Blue of Barcelona a total of 675 times in all competitions and took him above another Barcelona legend in Andres Iniesta as the second highest appearance maker in Barcelona's history.

Though he is still some way of the iconic Xavi in the first place, who turned out a whopping 767 times for Barca, with it looking increasingly likely that he would spend the rest of his career at Camp Nou, you can be sure that Messi would sit top of this list in the nearest future.

#3 Joint-most wins in LaLiga history

Lionel Messi is currently tied with Iker Casillas for the most wins in LaLiga history
Lionel Messi is currently tied with Iker Casillas for the most wins in LaLiga history

The 2-0 victory over Espanyol also set another milestone in Messi's ever-burgeoning collection of individual records.

It marked the 334th time the 31-year-old had tasted victory in the Spanish top-flight, going on level with the Porto shot-stopper and former Clasico rival, Iker Casillas.

However, whereas the 37-year-old goalkeeper achieved the landmark in 510 matches across 16 seasons in LaLiga, Lionel Messi has laid his marker in much less time, needing just 445 matches in 15 domestic campaigns.

Lionel Messi's record means he has an astonishing 75% win ratio in the league while his 414 goals (0.93 goals /game) is also far ahead of anyone else in LaLiga history.

The record for most wins could outrightly become his as quickly as Tuesday when the Blaugrana travel away to face relegation-threatened Villareal.

#2 Most freekick goals scored against a single opponent

Real Betis Balompie v FC Barcelona - La Liga
Real Betis Balompie v FC Barcelona - La Liga

Messi's otherworldly talents mean that there is very little he cannot do with a ball and this includes having pin-point accuracy with a dead ball.

Mastering the art of freekick taking is one of the most difficult tricks in the book, despite the fact that Messi makes it look so easy.

Even though he only recently became Barcelona's bonafide freekick taker in 2015 following the departure of Xavi, Lionel Messi has turned freekick taking into art and is currently one of the deadliest men in the world when it comes to set pieces.

In December last year in a match against Espanyol, he netted twice from free kicks to take his total tally for 2018 to nine, which was more than any other club managed throughout the year.

In the second leg against the same opponent, the Argentine maestro opened the scoring with a delightful free-kick which was the sixth he had managed to score against Catalonia's second team.

It means the Periquitos are his favorite opponents when it comes to free kicks and the delightful nature of the panenka just added gloss to the landmark event.

#1 First player to score 40+ goals in 10 consecutive seasons

Messi is the La Liga first player to score 40+ goals in 10 consecutive seasons
Messi is the La Liga first player to score 40+ goals in 10 consecutive seasons

As already established, Lionel Messi is the greatest goalscorer in the history of Spanish football and perhaps of all-time anywhere in football's annals.

He, however, had a very slow start, netting just one goal from eight matches in his first season with Barcelona, but those were very much testing water days in what was to become the legendary story.

His first double figures in all competitions were reached two seasons after his debut when he scored 17 goals from 36 appearances in the 2006/2007 season.

The arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo in LaLiga in direct comparison with Lionel Messi undoubtedly brought out the best in the pair.

This viewpoint best exemplified by the fact that the Barcelona man had his first ever 40-goal season in 2009/2010, which happened to be Ronaldo's first season in Spain. He scored 47 goals in all competitions to help Barcelona to a domestic double.

This is, however, the benchmark these days as Lionel Messi and his eternal rival Cristiano Ronaldo have taken goalscoring to preposterous levels.

Last season, Messi grabbed headlines by becoming the first man in European footballing history to score 40 goals in nine consecutive seasons. He extended his record in the match against Espanyol on Saturday.

His brace in the game took him to 40th and 41st goals for the season from just 38 appearances in all competitions this term, meaning he has scored 40+ goals for 10 consecutive seasons.

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Edited by Sujith M